Guardians(56)
I go over to her and stroke her hair. Her eyes are still closed. She moans softly.
I can’t make out what she’s saying.
“Emmy, what is it?”
“I deserve ice cream,” she says in a hoarse whisper.
“Okay, babe,” I shake my head as relief makes its way down my wings.
“Big. Big. Ice cream,” she adds.
“You got it,” I assure her.
“Baby girl, I’m proud of you,” Jay tells her.
“Thanks Jay. What happens now?”
“We release all the specks that have gathered in the tube. The map should reassemble itself once it hits that air,” Charity says.
“Since the Triplex was found by good, there should be a light that breaks into the sky. That light will summon the reflection of three Original Paras. Each one presents a Council member. Then the map will go into oblivion for another six hundred sixty-six years,” Rio tells her.
“There’s only one possible problem,” Chance says.
Of course there is…
“What?” I ask, growing angrier because once again, the sisters withheld something from us.
“If we missed even one speck from the human’s eyes, the map will be incomplete and the Para reflections won’t appear,” Choice says.
“Does that mean the Dy will be cast back inside me?”
“Yes, Emmy,” Charity says regretfully.
“The only thing to do is cast it out onto the sky and see if all three Paras appear,” Chance says, as if it’s no big deal.
So far, I’m not loving the Quo people…
“If you missed a speck or two, we do this all over again?” Ameana asks.
“No. The human will not survive another attempt,” Chance tells us.
“Why the hell didn’t you mention all this to us in the beginning?” I bark.
“Marcus calm down,” Rio says.
“No, he’s right. You three are full of secrets. What else are you hiding?” Jay asks.
“We should ask the same of you. Where is our Amulet?” Choice says.
“You get it if, and only if, this works,” I reply.
“Look, let’s just gather the specks and see what happens,” Charity reasons with the group.
“This better work,” I caution the three of them.
The triplets gather the tube and head outside. I help Emmy off the table and we all join the sisters in the garden. I look in Emmy’s eyes and although the map isn’t there anymore, her eyes are still a vivid purple.
They prick the tube with the point of the needle. Gold specks leap out and take to the air. We wait with bated breath as the specks take the shape of the map and ascend to the sky.
Emmy takes my hand. Rio places his hand on Jay’s shoulder.
“Reese died so we could get to this moment,” Miku says softly. Ameana takes her hand. The map is so far up, it’s now the size of a star.
Nothing happens.
I tell the group to wait a little while longer.
Nothing happens.
Emmy squeezes my hand tighter and tells everyone to give it a few more seconds.
Nothing happens.
“Oh no,” Miku moans.
Then, a Para is reflected in the sky.
We’re all frozen with anticipation as we pray for Para number two.
The second Para appears.
“Yes!” Jay shouts.
“Shhhh,” Rio says, as we look around for the third and final Para.
We wait.
We wait.
We wait.
Nothing happens.
“DAMN IT!” I shout turning away from the sky.
“Marcus—” Emmy begins.
“No, this is wrong. After everything—”
“Marcus—”
“No, don’t tell me to calm down. This is crap!”
“Marcus!”
“WHAT???”
She points her index finger towards the sky. And there, standing in a pool of brilliant light, is the third Para. The light from of all three bathes the entire sky.
We rejoice so loud, we scare every living thing in the garden. I take Emmy up in my arms and throw her high up into the air. Jay and Rio embrace as does Miku and Ameana. We’re so euphoric, Rio jokes that our happiness is going to kill him.
“We did it, baby!” Jay says picking Emmy up. She laughs and hugs him back. By then, all of us are spread out into the garden filled with a ridiculous amount of glee and energy. The sisters watch as we celebrate.
Emmy and I look at each other from across the garden. We don’t need to use words. We know what the other is thinking and feeling.
We proved everyone wrong. We loved the way we wanted to and we never gave up. Everyone was wrong about us; our love didn’t destroy us. It kept us alive…
We are so insane with excitement, we almost forget about the Amulet. But as promised, I hand it over to Chance and she thanks us.
“When will you be making your introduction to the Angel world?” Emmy asks.